For those of you who are new here, I am well known for my tough love approach that kicks you in a$$ from time to time. Consider this your warning.

Are you ready?

You can have results…or you can have excuses…BUT YOU CAN’T HAVE BOTH!

Everyone talks a big game when it comes to their business. We all want to hit high sales goals, sell out our masterclass, or launch a new program. But if you aren’t willing to put in the work to do it, then you can’t get upset when it doesn’t happen.

I mean I get it.

It is far easier to come up with excuses not to do things. And that is totally fine as long as you aren’t married to the idea of getting results. But if you want to succeed and hit your goals, you will have to put the excuses away. And you will have to MAKE TIME to do all the things that need to be done so that you can get the results you want.

A great way to get out of your own way is to start by figuring out where the excuses are coming from so that you can actually TAKE ACTION and get the results that you want. 

One more time for those in the back…

You can have results or you can have excuses, but YOU CAN’T HAVE BOTH!

Let’s dive into recognizing your excuses and how to overcome them to get the results you desire on Episode 4 of The REAL Truth About Business Podcast.

Need a little help getting out of your own way? Schedule a Strategy Power Hour with me now!

Looking for a way to expand your network? Join us for the #100CoffeeChatsClub! Your first cup is on me!

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If we haven't connected yet - I would LOVE to chat with you! Let's share a virtual cup of coffee and you can tell me all about you and your business.

Connect with me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/michelle_denio/

To learn more about customized 1:1 business growth support packages, visit our website or email michelle@michelledenio.com

Hey, welcome back to the real truth about business. I am going to give you a little tough love today. This is what, uh, in the past we would call a New York Michelle. So hope you're ready for it. You've been warned and we're going to dive into it. But before we dive into the tough love, part of the tough love too is, um, go get your butt inside the hundred coffee chats community, right? Like part of.

what I am seeing, what I'm hearing. Today's episode is called Results or Excuses. You can't have both, right? One of the biggest excuses I hear in the online space or in the business ownership space is that, I need to meet more people. I'm not talking to the right people. Okay, well, good. I've created a pond, now come fish in it. All you gotta do is join the group. So click the link in the show notes, join the free Facebook community, the 100 Coffee Chats Club, okay? All right, and we'll see you in there. And, oh, don't just join it.

actually engage in it. I know people have and whatnot about the Facebook groups. I don't want to hear it again. Those are all excuses. You know, if you want it bad enough, you'll figure it out. So anyway, okay. All right. Results versus excuses. This is a conversation that I have been having over and over and over and over. And the reality is the tough love, the meat and potatoes, the whole thing is that you can have your results or you can have excuses, but you can't have both.

All right, you just can't, you can't say here and say, I want all of these results. I wanna lose 10 pounds, I wanna lose 20 pounds, I wanna grow my membership, I wanna get new VIP days, I wanna do this, I wanna do that, I wanna do this, and this is all the things I'm desiring, but I really don't wanna spend that much time marketing it, I really don't wanna eat, right? I don't like meal planning, I don't wanna spend that much time meal prepping, right? Like, okay, that's fine, right? Like, I don't wanna spend a lot of time meal prepping,

I hate eating crap because if I don't, then we eat crap on the weekends or whatever it is, right? But the reality is, is that you can live with your excuses. All right, I am giving you 100% permission to live with those excuses if they are your truth, right? Like if you believe wholeheartedly and you feel as though they are your truth, like I cannot do this or I don't like to do that. Guess what? You're an adult. You...

You're a business owner. You get to make your own decisions. You get to decide what you will and won't do. But what you don't get to do is say, I'm not going to do that, but then I'm going to expect this level of result. You've got to get them in alignment. What I see and what I'm seeing is that a lot of people do a lot of talking. They have an answer for just about everything.

They have an answer about, oh no, I'm doing this because of this. I'm doing this because of this. But the reality is, is a lot of times they're just freaking flat out excuses and they're cover ups for what you really should be doing, but then it's, yeah, but I'm not getting the results that I'm looking for. Well, again, you really need to look at the effort that you're putting in and the things that are coming out of your mouth and the actions that you're taking. All right? And so...

But the other side of it is if you want to live with those excuses, then live with them, right? If you want to say, I don't want to work out five times a week. Okay. Don't work out five times a week, right? That's fine. But then don't expect massive results, right? If you want to say, I don't want to have to show up on social media or I don't want to have to promote my business or I don't want to have to, a client of mine just said to me,

Oh my God, it's so much writing. It's so many emails. It's so much writing. Okay, well then don't do it. But then don't call me when you didn't book out your program for the month. You don't have to do it if it's too much writing. But then also look at like, why? Why do you feel like you have to do all of these things? Part of the problem, and I think that's one of the things that if I'm gonna give you an action step, okay, because you know every.

every single episode I want to give you these action steps. So the action step is, is look at where these excuses are coming from. Most of the time the excuses are coming from because we just simply don't want to do the thing, right? We don't want to do it or we don't know how to do it. It's a fear response, right? It's pushing us out of our comfort zone and we all know we don't like to do that. Or it's a new territory and we're overwhelmed, right? It's an analysis paralysis set in.

you know, even just getting podcasts recorded. I can come up with a million excuses. Like right now the dog's walking around. It's super distracting. She's been laying at my feet all morning. I decided to turn on my pod. You know, I decided to turn on the microphone and she's decided it's time to walk around. Okay, whatever. I could use that as an excuse and be like, well, I'm not gonna record episodes until tomorrow because I don't want the noise, right? Well, there's a good chance you're probably not hearing it. And if you are, again, is it really?

Is that a good enough excuse? No, right? Or I don't have time to get them uploaded, or I've been too busy answering questions, or I have clients that are asking me all these questions and so I didn't get them done. Okay, I can continue to live with all those excuses or I can just turn off all the freaking distractions and book myself time to upload these damn podcast episodes and get them done, right? Again, if I want to create a show that is strategic, that has an episode every single week, then I have to plan my time.

All right, and so it may require a little bit of time. This is something I've relaunched. I've had to reschedule back in time for recording, schedule back in time to, if there's any call to action or an opt-in, like last week we did the strategic planning opt-in. I had to plan time to get that done, right? Like I could say I don't have time to get it done and just not get it done, but then don't be mad when you launch something and it's not complete, right? And then...

And thinking about like, are the results that you're desiring, the in alignment with the effort that you're putting in? You know, I'm seeing this a lot. People are burnout, right? We were in hustle mode through COVID because we didn't have anything else to do. We couldn't go anywhere. We couldn't go and enjoy life. We were stuck at home until people were in this hustle mode. And we were working all the time because what the hell else do we have to do? Well, now things are not like that. And so now we are.

realizing that we don't have to do these things and we want our time back, right? But we're still expecting the same level of results. So for many people, we were constantly seeing this influx of leads and influx of clients and all these things. And now it's like, well, where are the clients? Where are the leads? Well, when's the last time you posted about it? When's the last time you reached out and let people know you, know you were taking on new clients.

When's the last time you actually showed up on social media? When's the last time you posted a story? Well, I just don't want to do that because I've got this going on and this going on and this going on and this going on and all these things. But the reality is, is like, okay, well then just get everything in alignment with your, you know, where you're at, like make sure everything is in alignment. So again, it's results or excuses, but here's the other thing. Like stop talking about shit, either do it or don't.

Either do it or don't. Don't keep talking about all the things. Like I had my goddaughter here and she's got an answer for everything. She's got an answer for everything. And any of you have somebody in the 20 to 21 year old range somewhere around there, you probably know they have an answer for everything. But they also, their actions don't line up with their answers for everything. I want this. I wanna move to Florida. I wanna do all of these things. I wanna save money, but I don't wanna miss out time when my friends did not.

to take an extra shift at work, but these type of things, right? But we see it all the time in business too. And I think that is part of the problem right now is that we are living with our excuses. It's easy to live with the excuses because it's just so, they just come to us so naturally, right? Like it's, we can find an excuse for just about everything. And maybe in your world and maybe in your mind, they are truly...

No, they're not excuses. Like you fully believe like, no, these are warranted responses or these are not, I'm not making excuses. And like I said, maybe they are, but then live with them, right? Like if you truly don't have the time to be on social media and do the work that is required to build your business on social media, then live with it, right? Like if that is a very true warranted

you truly don't have the time, that's fine. But then stop talking about building your business on social media. Okay. Like that's my point here is like figure out what results you're desiring, figure out what actions it takes to get there and then figure out what excuses you're coming up with as to why you're not doing the actions that you know it takes and then look at it and go, is this something I'm going to live with? Right? Like myself, I love to get in better shape. I love to be like,

super muscular. Am I willing to put in 30 minutes to an hour every single day into going to the gym? No, right? And so I'm not going to expect to have a 17% body fat percentage when I don't go to the gym. I can't compare myself. I have a good friend who's at 17% body fat and I'm like, damn, I would love that. But she's at the gym every morning at 730 for I think 60 to 90 minutes, five days a week. Am I willing to do that? No. So how important is it to me? Like,

sit here and say, Oh, I don't have the time. No, I'm just not willing. I'm not willing to do that. That is not a priority for me. But then stop talking about wanting to have 17% body fat, right? Like that's just what I'm saying in this, in this episode is like you get to live with your excuses or you get to say like, I'm not willing to do that, but then you can't have the results. Right? So that's your, that's the whole point results or excuses. You can have one or the other.

You cannot have both. You just can't. They don't go together. In whatever fashion you try to put them together, they don't go together. So you get to choose. What are you choosing, right? And here's the other thing, like I said, is where are the excuses coming from? If they're coming from a fear response or they're coming from a place of just lack of, I don't know what to do.

or they're coming from a place of analysis paralysis, that's pretty natural too. Like that is super, like such an acceptable thing. And it's something we all go through. But again, this is why sometimes it's helpful to get out of your head, right? And this is where like a power hour, strategic power hour would be a great use of like, really let's look at all those excuses or maybe they're not even excuses. Maybe it's resistance. You could...

You could view it that way too. But like, let's look at where the resistance is coming from and then let's put an action plan in place. Like, let's really look at them. I'm happy to go through that with you. It's a beautiful, we could do that in a strategic power hour, 90 minutes. Let's bang it out. Like, let's look at what results you're desiring and then let's figure out what actions you're willing to take and see if they're in alignment. It could simply be that you're feeling like you're not getting the results simply because your results are out of alignment.

with the work that you're willing to do. And I don't want you to feel bad about that. The online space has made us feel so, so bad about the fact that like, maybe we don't wanna hustle 24 seven. Maybe we don't wanna be on our computers every minute. Maybe we are sick of social media and we wanna build offline, right? Like the only people that are making you feel bad is just the noise in the online space. You get to choose, you get to choose. And that's my whole point in this episode is you get to choose your results.

You get to choose what you are desiring. You get to choose how you define success, but you can't have both. You get to choose it, but you can't have these massive, massive goals and expect massive, massive results and also try to stay here and be like, yeah, but, yeah, but, yeah, but. That's what's gotta go away. The yeah, buts, right? So look at and examine. Where are you finding yourself going, yeah, but?

or yeah, but right, like it's, there's no other word for it because that is usually our typical response. Yeah, but I don't want to do that, right? Like I would love to have 17% body fat, but I'm not willing to go to the gym, but I don't have time to go to the gym. No, it's really, I'm not willing. That's what it is. So anyways, examine it, examine it. Like step one is just simply examine it. Look at where are my excuses showing up and where are these excuses affecting

the results that I'm desiring. And the excuses may be showing up in a totally different way and then when you really look at it, it's like, oh, well maybe that's why, right? Maybe that's why I'm not willing. I had somebody say to me the other day that she wanted to join the Coffee Chats Club but she needed to build her business a little bit more. Right, like.

To me, that's such an oxymoron. Like the whole point of the 100 Coffee Chats Club is to introduce you to the people that are gonna help you build your business, right? And so that's, I would look at it too. Like what's really the resistance there behind joining the 100 Coffee Chats Club? There's probably more, but that's just simply to me, an excuse, oh, I need another client first, right? Okay, no, there's a bigger reason there. Again, so really looking at like the excuses are usually very, very surface level also.

very surface level. And that's why I say get them all out on paper, get them out of your head, have somebody like that can ask you the hard questions. Again, I'm happy to do that. But like, why? Where are they coming up? Because we give excuses because it's just a surface level, easy, quick response, but it's not usually what we need. All right. So examine that, write them all down, ask yourself what's underneath that, and then ask yourself, how is this affecting the results that I'm desiring?

Maybe it's not affecting it at all, but if it is, then the next question is, am I willing to change this? And if you're not, then you change the result that you're desiring. If it, if you are willing to change it, then you change the excuse, right? One or the other, again, one of the other changes, it's like a 50 50. There's, there's no happy medium here. There's no in the middle. There's no gray area. It's pretty black or white. That's it. Yes or no. You get them. Okay. All right. I'll talk to you soon.